If, as proverbial wisdom has it, it's a wise father that knows his own child, the reverse is no less true for W. Allen Taylor in "Walkin' Talkin' Bill Hawkins," a solo show that opened Friday at the Marsh Berkeley. Taylor's quest for such wisdom is the intriguing core of a piece subtitled "In Search of My Father." The art he makes of that search is not only enlightening but moving, funny and captivating as well.

It's been a long quest for Taylor, who grew up in Cleveland and didn't learn his father's identity until he graduated from Ohio State University in 1975 -- a few months after his father's death. Ironically, Taylor -- a communications major who'd been working as a DJ -- finds out that his father, Bill Hawkins, had been the first black radio disc jockey in Cleveland, a very popular figure in the '50s and a model for legendary rock DJ Alan Freed. And that's only the beginning of the personal, theatrical and historical discoveries that carry the piece.

A veteran actor who teaches drama at the College of Marin, Taylor skillfully assumes a broad array of characters, from himself as a child, adolescent and adult to his father-substitutes and the various friends of his father he encounters. Just as artfully, he blends his own story, and the mixed emotions of his excitement and resentment, with a trip through musical genres and insights into recent African American history.

Hawkins was a pioneer in "black appeal" radio, post-World War II shows targeted at blacks on white-owned stations. Hawkins, who broadcast from the windows of his record store, bought his playing time and rounded up his own sponsors.

It's a story that Taylor, understandably, has been obsessed with for most of his life but that he began to develop as a theater piece about nine years ago. "Walkin' " has been through several workshop productions, developed with director Ellen Sebastian Chang, and was featured on National Public Radio's "Lost and Found" in '99. Since then, Taylor has made more discoveries, including photos and a rare recording of his father at work. The Marsh production, directed by Gloria Weinstock, is the world premiere, but Taylor plans to continue developing it, he explains in his program note, "as my search continues."

It's pretty well-formed already, though Taylor and his directors could tighten some of the transitions and smooth out a few rough spots. Working on a fairly simple, two-level stage (set by Walter Holden, who also designed the mood-shifting lights), Taylor segues swiftly from slick, hipster DJ -- his glib patter laced with bitterness toward an absent "Daddio" -- to puzzled child plaintively asking who his father is. With subtly underplayed skill, Taylor adapts his voice and long, lean frame to depict himself at different ages and the aging of his patient mother as well.

There's sharply observed humor in his portrayal of growing up and identifying with deftly delineated uncles and neighbors or learning new dance steps. There's great affection in his portrait of his mother, especially as she struggles to maintain her dignity when she tells him about Hawkins, shamed more by the pain of having deprived him of a father than by the adultery she'd hidden for so long. There's considerable delight, too, in Taylor's use of music as gospel meets boogie on a soundtrack that unites John Coltrane with Booker T., James Brown, Big Mama Thornton and a sly use of "Happy Trails."

Smooth moves alternate with a haunting "headless turkey" dance that could still be better integrated into the tale, as could the recurring figure of the hipster DJ. But Taylor is deeply affecting in some of his mother's recollections, as he is depicting Hawkins' widow, her face turned away from the young man whose existence she won't acknowledge through her partly opened door. He's also particularly acute in his portraits of his father's best friend, a smooth nightclub owner, and a woman who worked in radio with Hawkins despite her disdain for the rise of rhythm and blues.

Slowly, incrementally, a fairly complex portrait of Hawkins emerges as well. Taylor may never complete his search to his own satisfaction, but the quest is poised to provide considerable rewards.